The San Diego Paragliding and Hang Gliding Association (SDHGPA) continues to work positively with landowners throughout San Diego County, developing land use agreements that are mutually beneficial to the flying community and the land owners who grant them permission to use their property for unpowered flying activities.

The Pala Band of Mission Indians and other landowners on Mt Palomar have entered into agreements with SDHGPA for continued use of the Palomar Mt launching and landing sites. The Pala Executive Committee feels that Hang Gliding and Paragliding is a positive and compatible use of tribal lands, adding scenic beauty as pilots fly silently over the valley, sharing the skies with native birds. The SDHGPA has satisfied land owners’ concerns of liability related to their recreational uses.

Pala and other landowners expect the SDHGPA group to be responsible shepherds of the land, and SDHGPA pilots have agreed to work to deter illegal users from defacing the land (primarily by reporting such use in an effort to enable enforcement), and to attempt to repair damages done in the past by unauthorized use. These collaborative efforts to restore and maintain the natural beauty of the areas used as unpowered flying sites are a benefit to both pilots and the land owners who have granted them access.

The SDHGPA has started a major Mt Palomar clean-up and Site Preservation effort to return the Palomar flying site to its natural beauty after years of disrespectful misuse of the land by other unauthorized recreationalists. SDHGPA Palomar clean-up and Site Preservation efforts will be documented in the Following Photo Album ( Palomar Mt Site Building - Preservation 2013 Album) and on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SDHGPA